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Wednesday, 15 May 2013

‘NOT AFRAID OF JAIL’ – SWAZI ACTIVIST

Asked whether his imprisonment would dampen his political activism,
Wonder Mkhonza replied “of course not! The threat of jail can no longer dent
our spirit as we push for democracy in Swaziland.”

Wonder, who is the National Organising Secretary of Swazi liberation
movement PUDEMO and Deputy General Secretary of the Swaziland Processing,
Refining and Allied Workers Union (SPRAWU), spent a month in prison on charges
of sedition but was released on bail yesterday. His alleged crime - being
in possession of political pamphlets.

“I was interrogated by an army of police who used a variety of
strategies to make me speak,” Wonder said of his prison ordeal. “The prison
authorities refused me visitation rights for my colleagues and friends and I
was to moved to the maximum section in solitary confinement at Matsapha.”

Wonder thanked those who had contributed to his bail and campaigned for
his release. “I appreciate the support that was given to SPRAWU, PUDEMO and to
me and family personally” he said. “And I appreciate the support from our
international allies – both organizations and individuals – who went out of
their way to support our struggle for a just society in Swaziland. On that note
I wish to applaud the speed with which the campaign for my release was implemented; it made a huge
difference.”

Although he is now out of prison, Wonder is not a free man. Amongst
other things he has to report every week to a police station and surrender his
passport, and the court cases of political activists in Swaziland such as
Wonder are deliberately drawn out for years.

“He joins a growing list of many political prisoners [in Swaziland] who
have been out on bail, but their cases are deliberately not finalized. In the
process these are suffering from the extremely stringent conditions that are
imposed on them,” as PUDEMO National Spokesperson Zakhele Mabuza put it.